December 10, 2014

Today, the Star-Telegram is switching to a new online content platform and Sky Talk is moving with it. Think of it like an airline migrating its computer reservation system from SHARES to Sabre (American/US Airways folks, you know what I mean.)

So this is the last post on Sky Talk 1.0. All of the archived posts will remain on the old platform and can still be viewed.

Over the next few days or so, I'll be working on some of the functionality of our new system for Sky Talk 2.0 so please be patient if you see duplicate posts on the blog or if your comments don't get published right away.

When the Star-Telegram started Sky Talk on May 22, 2007, it had four page views on its first day. Over 7 million page views later, we say goodbye to Sky Talk 1.0 and look forward to welcoming our readers to the new and improved, Sky Talk 2.0

December 09, 2014

Two quick notes about the ongoing contract talks between American Airlines and its pilots and flight attendants unions this week.

-First, the Allied Pilots Association board is meeting on Tuesday through the rest of the week to discuss the ongoing contract talks with American.

The board could decide by Friday if it plans to send out any possible contract agreement to pilots to vote on. Or if talks between APA and American management stall, American could decide to begin the arbitration process to reach a joint contract for the pilots.

-And there could be a decision from the arbitration panel over the weekend regarding a joint contract for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

According to a hotline message sent to flight attendants on Monday night, the arbiters have asked the union and company arbitration panel members to meet in an executive session on Saturday, December 13 in Washington D.C. to discuss the three issues presented at last week's arbitration hearing. The company and union do not agree on including "me-too" clauses on profit sharing and health care plans or starting wage increases from the new contract in December 2014.

The panel could reach a decision at the end of the session and provide its ruling in writing "shortly thereafter," the message said.

APFA president Laura Glading also sent a letter to American chief executive Doug Parker, asking to meet with management after an arbitration decision is reached to attempt to restore the full value of the tentative agreement that flight attendants rejected last month.

"APFA is committed to achieving the restoration of the full $193 million a year value of the T/A that the company had been prepared to pay," Glading wrote. "To that end, I am writing on behalf of the Joint Negotiating Committee to ask for a meeting with the Company as soon as we have the arbitration award."

Keep reading for the full letter from Glading sent to Parker on Monday.

The interest arbitration award creating an American Airlines/APFA Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) will be issued soon. We all know that in accordance with the Conditional Labor Agreement and the Negotiations Protocol Agreement the value of that JCBA will be $112 million a year (on average) above the current aggregate value of the Legacy American Airlines and Legacy US Airways contracts. That amount is $81 million a year lower than the $193 million a year (on average) the Company had agreed to in the Tentative Agreement (T/A) that failed ratification. At the arbitration, APFA and the Company agreed that the $81 million reduction should be accomplished through a reduction in the T/A wage rates. (APFA also has asked the arbitration panel to make the wage increases retroactive to December 2, 2014, and to include in the JCBA "me too" clauses that would be triggered if the Company provides profit-sharing or health insurance different from APFA's to any other workgroup.)

I am sure that you agree that the Flight Attendants at the new American, both Legacy American Airlines and Legacy US Airways, have made tremendous sacrifices. Our workgroup has been struggling under substandard wages for far too long. The industry has been in a state of turmoil and turbulence for decades - with the Flight Attendants being thrashed around at every jolt. The professionalism displayed and contributions made through it all have been both extraordinary and invaluable to this company's bottom line.

The APFA Board of Directors has made it clear that despite the arbitration award that will be issued, APFA is committed to achieving the restoration of the full $193 million a year value of the T/A that the company had been prepared to pay. To that end, I am writing on behalf of the Joint Negotiating Committee to ask for a meeting with the Company as soon as we have the arbitration award.

A year ago today, American Airlines' headquarters were filled with cheering employees ringing silver bells to celebrate the birth of a new company, American Airlines Group.

Star-Telegram photographer Paul Moseley captured the moment where the Fort Worth company's stock began trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol AAL.

To celebrate its 1st birthday, American announced several new customer initiatives on Monday including renovating its Admirals Clubs and retrofitting its Boeing 757s with fully-lie flat business-class seats and new main cabins. Its Airbus A319s will also be retrofitted with new seats and power outlets throughout the cabin.

Adding in the previously announced retrofits of its Boeing 767s and 777s and the new aircraft deliveries, American said it will spend $2 billion over the next three years on these customer improvements, which the Star-Telegram reported in this Sunday article looking at what's ahead for American in 2015.

December 08, 2014

-Dallas Love Field will be unveiling plans for a new 4,000-space parking garage to be located across from its new ticket hall. The five-level garage, which still needs approval from the city of Dallas, would help ease parking problems that have plagued the airport since the lifting of the Wright Amendment restrictions, according to this report in the Dallas Observer.

-Checked bag fees and other "ancillary fees" may increase on popular travel days around Thanksgiving and Christmas, reports the Los Angeles Times. For example, Spirit Airlines has already raised checked bag prices by $2 during the holiday travel period from December 18 to January 5.

-And for those following the labor negotiations between American Airlines and its flight attendants and pilots, profit-sharing (or the lack of it) has become a main topic of discussion. Cranky Flier, aka Brett Snyder, weighed in on the issue in this column from last week. "American’s decision to stick to its guns on profit-sharing means it can’t back off at this point. It would create more ill will with the rest of the workgroups than it would create goodwill with the pilots. This management team wants to be consistent in its dealings, and that means it has backed itself into a no profit-sharing corner. That may prove to be a good thing in the long run, but for now, that stance is just making the front line groups mad," Snyder writes.

December 9 marks the one-year anniversary for the merger of American Airlines and US Airways.

And in Sunday's edition of the Star-Telegram, we took a look back at the first year of the company, which industry analysts went pretty smoothly.

The real test, they say, is in 2015 when the airline will achieve its single-operating certificate from the FAA, combine its frequent flier programs and integrate its two computer reservation platforms into one.

December 07, 2014

Envoy Air announced on Sunday evening that it has reached a tentative agreement with its pilots union that will allow the regional carrier to operate larger aircraft.

The Air Line Pilots Association will send out the agreement to its pilots for a vote, according to a memo sent by Envoy chief executive Pedro Fabregas. Envoy is owned by American Airlines Group and operates regional flights for American Airlines under the American Eagle brand.

Under the agreement, American will guarantee 40 of its new 76-seat Embraer 175 jets will be flown by Envoy starting in the fourth quarter of 2015. If American chooses to exercise options on an additional 90 E175 jets, Envoy will operate those as well.

Fabregas said the agreement also improves the flow-through for pilots at Envoy to be hired at American's mainline operations.

"If ratified, this Tentative Agreement will form the foundation for a bright future for our company. It will be especially promising for our pilots, providing them new, large and modern aircraft to fly and a faster path to a career at American Airlines," Fabregas told Envoy employees.

The agreement freezes pay scales for pilots until 2018 with one percent annual pay increases beginning after that. On the date of signing the contract, captains will receive a $12,500 bonus and first officers will receive a $7,500 bonus.

"The MEC believes this TA is the best obtainable agreement, and provides the best path forward for Envoy pilots given our circumstances," said ALPA master executive council chair Sam Pool in a statement to pilots. "To say this has been a difficult process is an understatement. All quadrants of our diverse pilot group will be affected by some factors of this agreement, and our reps have not taken this decision lightly."

In March, Envoy's pilots previously rejected a 10-year contract that would have allowed the regional carrier to fly new, larger planes in exchange for freezing pay scales until 2018 and eliminating profit-sharing. Following that rejection, American began moving regional jets away from Envoy to other regional operators who had cheaper operating costs.

The Envoy MEC reconvened early this morning in Washington, DC to consider a final proposal from company representatives. After another full day of intense negotiations and discussions, late tonight the MEC approved a tentative agreement (TA), endorsing and supporting its ratification by the membership. The MEC believes this TA is the best obtainable agreement, and provides the best path forward for Envoy pilots given our circumstances.

To say this has been a difficult process is an understatement. All quadrants of our diverse pilot group will be affected by some factors of this agreement, and our reps have not taken this decision lightly. It has been one year since this process began, and to this end, our negotiators, officers and the entire ALPA leadership have ensured that they have achieved as much as possible in return for the re-fleeting of our airline.

We’ve reached a point where the final decision rests with you, and a ratification vote will be conducted in the near future. A summary and the full language are attached to this email for your review. The MEC is planning roadshows beginning this week, and will conduct several all pilot conference calls. We will provide you a list of specific times and locations for all roadshows and pilot conference calls in a future email.

Thank you for your continued professionalism and support.

In Unity

Sam Pool

Envoy MEC Chairman

Envoy and ALPA Reach Tentative Agreement to Operate Larger, Two-Class Embraer E175 Aircraft and Position the Airline for Growth

Dear Envoy team:

I am very pleased to report that a Tentative Agreement has been reached with our pilots,

represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). My sincere thanks to Envoy ALPA for all

of their work to develop and reach this Agreement that has been endorsed and will be

supported by the union’s Master Executive Council (MEC). It is my understanding the

tentative agreement will immediately be sent to our pilots for a vote. If ratified, this Tentative

Agreement will form the foundation for a bright future for our company. It will be especially

promising for our pilots, providing them new, large and modern aircraft to fly and a faster path to

a career at American Airlines.

This Tentative Agreement will allow Envoy to upgrade its fleet with a guarantee of 40 new 76-

December 05, 2014

It looks like the double-decker A380s leaving out of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport aren't exactly full of passengers when they depart.

According to this blog post by DFWTower.com, the Emirates Airline flight to Dubai had an 38 percent for its load factor for its first full month of operation with the A380. Qantas Airways, which operates the only nonstop to Sydney, has about a 76 percent load factor on its A380 route.

DFWTower.com took traffic statistics provided by DFW Airport for the month of October and compared them to the available capacity on those routes to calculate load factors.

Here's what blogger Greg Gayden noticed about Emirates: "This is a carrier that was consistently in the 90% range during their time at DFW; the addition of Qatar to the mix and the big increase in capacity with the A380 have brought loads down drastically."

Qatar launched daily service to Doha in July and earlier this week, Etihad Airways started three-times-a-week service to Abu Dhabi.

At DFW Airport's board meeting this week, airport chief executive Sean Donohue noted that passenger traffic to Europe had dropped 8 percent in October which the airport attributed to more travelers using the Gulf carriers to connect to destinations in the Indian subcontinent and Africa instead of connecting through Europe.

December 04, 2014

On the second day of arbitration hearings between American Airlines and its flight attendants union, the carrier argued that additional clauses for profit-sharing and healthcare plans would make a possible flight attendant contract more valuable.

Both parties have already agreed that the new joint contract between the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the company will be valued at $112 million more annually than the legacy contracts at American and US Airways.

In its presentation to the arbiters, American's witnesses said the options for profit-sharing and healthcare plans still hold an economic value over the span of the five-year contract, even if the union never exercises the options.

"It may be the case that AA never offers a PS or health plan that is of no more value and APFA never takes these options. But today, these options are at their peak value because these are exercisable for five years," a company witness said, according to a tweet from APFA, which is live-tweeting the hearings on its Twitter account.

American completed its presentation of its arguments on Thursday and the arbiters said they planned to meet that afternoon to discuss a schedule on when it will present its binding arbitration findings.

Keep reading for a full account of Day 2 of the hearings as tweeted by APFA.

Company witness (Dr. Lee) is providing an economic assessment of whether the value of the me too clauses puts the value above $112 million which is the stipulated value of what must be added back into the combined contracts to equal market based in the aggregate. Dr. Lee: (summarized) Any option that is exercised (me too clauses) would provide a greater value than the $112 million. If the options weren't exercised, even unexercised they have a value - a basic economic theory. The profit sharing option is particularly valuable because it allows APFA to reverse the decision that it's already made to take the $50 million value and, based on new information it doesn't currently possess, exercise the option if it serves their purpose.

The me too options provide value as all options do. The holder of the option is bestowed a right. The right via APFA is to have the company match terms on some future event. Example: PS option, APFA has the option of reversing its decision of $50 million if the company is to agree on PS for another workgroup. There's a counter party to an option. The company is obliged to exercise the option. If the union exercises option of PS in the event another workgroup is offered PS, APFA has yet another option which is to revisit the earlier decision and decide whether it's more valuable to retain the $50 million or take the PS. Same goes for the health me too clauses. 3 reasons why the options have values: 1. exercised options provide value to the holder of that option. It's reasonable to assume that APFA would only exercise the health or PS option if it made them better off. This is called revealed preference. Unexercised options - APFA may decide not to exercise. At that point, do those clauses provide APFA with any value. Yes they do. All options provide the holder with value. BLOCH: If there is no possibllity of a payoff, isn't if fair to say that the option is much less value? Lee: Yes very good point. the price of the option is based on a whole number of things. time, probability of events in the future... say the only thing in the morning you eat is Cheerios. Your grocery story has 100 types of cereal. The fact that the store offers all of those options, and you only eat Cheerios, there is still 100 types of cereal. You may develop one day in the future an aversion to oats. You then have an option to switch cereals. Block: If I were offered the first trip to Pluto, I probably wouldn't take it. Lee: Someone might be. This isn't a tradeable option - it's between APFA and the company. pricing might be more complicated because there is no market for the option. The key factor is we have a party who is bestowed a right and a party that is given an obligation. The counterparty (AA) is imposed cost and there's a party who receives a benefit (APFA).

Roberta Golick (one of the arbitrators): how does one attribute an economic value to a right that may not be exercised. Lee: I've not been asked to price the option. What is the price you'd place on the option, I would have to give it some thought. I can tell you for sure that with 100% certainty that it does have real economic value. I have slides that will speak to profit sharing. The issue of economic value is thinking of it in 2 ways. "What cost does it impose on the company?" one example is - it limits the options / flexibility of the company going forward to negotiate future CBAs. The company has no intention of starting profit sharing for other unions. These twists and turns in bargaining is unpredictable. When another work group is negotiating, and because the other work group was williing to trade wages for a better health care plan, that may work for them. Knowing that APFA has the right to trade in the $50 million for PS imposes a real cost to the company. The company doesn't want to be restricted in any way.

LEE: It may be the case that AA never offers a PS or health plan that is of no more value and APFA never takes these options. But today, these options are at their peak value because these are exercisable for five years. BLOCH: Isn't there a distinction to be drawn for a few reasons... 1 - the options in the hands of the FAs early on, in a market situation at its highest, that option has no value at all unless you have the contingency of the company offering this to another group correct? LEE: No. The time value is positive even if it wasn't exercisable. The very fact that you have a future option to do something you wouldn't otherwise be able to do. BLOCH: some value maybe but here you postulate a slope downward as the expiration date draws closer. In this case wouldn't it go the other way. LEE: No. the JCBA contemplates a 5-year period. My understanding is that AA has before it multiple additional CBAs needing negotiations because of the merger. These will take time. The greater the time period covered, the greater the value must be. The time it is worth the most is measured by the amount of time ahead of you to exercise.

LEE: Moving on, we've covered the first 2 reasons why options have value. Finally, the info component in PS. APFA has determined its valuation for uncertain PS is $50 million. That's the amount APFA has ascribed aka the certainty equivalence. What's important about the $50 million is that it's based on the info APFA had as of the time of its proposal re: future profitability for the company and industry. Info is key to a number of things particularly in the airline industry. Additional info re: how well the company and industry are doing (synergies, oil prices) are important to consider. The me toos are structured allowing APFA to take advantage of info it doesn't currently possess.

LEE: It allows APFA, at some point in the future, to revisit the decision it has made today with the benefit of additional information it doesn't currently have (price of fuel, etc...) allowing it to leverage that additional information when making a choice. It also allows APFA to switch back to the $50 million (the certainty equivalent) if they don't want to stick with the PS piece. Let's assume they do that. If the economy were going in the tank, or there were a terrorist attack, Ebola, APFA would be able to use that info at that time and make an informed judgment to revert to that $50 million. That 2nd component allowing APFA to give back the PS risk and go with the $50 million certainty at a time the company may not have made money that year. Basically, going to Vegas and not placing your bet until you've seen your cards is what this provision is equivalent to.

CROSS EXAMINATION FREUND (APFA): You've been asked to provide an econ / finance theory on the value of options correct? LEE: That's one component of what I was asked to do. That's a large part of what I needed to do to arrive at my conclusions. But I was asked to look at the proposed JCBA and in light of the stipulation, determine whether the me too clauses provided economic value and would, therefore, exceed $112 million.

FREUND: If you'd never seen the JCBA, you'd testify that if you were asked whether options of any kind had value you would say Yes, correct? LEE: I suppose if you asked me on the street if options have value I would say yes.

FREUND: You weren't asked to evaluate the value of these me too clauses, correct? LEE: I became familiar with and developed an understanding of the general framework. We didn't know what the disputed issues would be. FREUND: You didn't participate in any of the decision making re: assumptions and values attached to the costing model, correct? LEE: Correct.

<back from short recess> FREUND: The panel asked whether the options (such as Apple stock) were the same as the me too options in APFA's proposal. The options in the proposal have no market and can have no market, correct? LEE: I never like to paint absolutes in that way. However, it's unlikely a market would develop in this market. I'll grant you that.

FREUND: to clarify another portion of your testimony, one of the values of the option is the ability to "make a choice based on changed information." LEE: Yes. FREUND: That ability enhances the ability in this case of the FAs to make a choice between keeping $50 million value in JCBA or taking a PS plan, correct? LEE: Yes. FREUND: you do understand that the PS proposal would require the FAs to make the choice in year 1 as to whether - in year 2 - it was going to reduce its wages by $50 million for PS in the following year. LEE: I do understand that FAs wouldn't be able to look back, see profits and make a choice. But, the information that you have for subsequent years is conditioned on everything you know up to that point in time. Where the option of trading back for the guaranteed money, suppose we were back here in 9/12/01 and that right became exercisable then, we don't know the profits of '02 and '03, but we have a lot more of an idea what the profits would be than we did on 9/09/01.

Lee has been excused as a witness.

Company calls Patrick ?? (I'll get that name later) as a witness. AA: what is your position? Patrick: Principle at AA on the labor analysis team in February of this year. Patrick: Responsible for valuation activities for CBAs and other responsibilities re: unionized work groups. During bargaining, in charge of labor finance for the AA nego team. Involved with the costing models. Worked with APFA's Dan Akins on the costing. AA ATTORNEY: Is there an economic cost to the company if wages are made retroactive? PATRICK: yes. AA: what is the cost? Patrick: it would be about $3 million for every month between the eff. date of the JCBA and the retro date of 12/2/14. AA: What would that do to the annual average of the $112 million market based. Would making wages retroactive affect any other terms? PATRICK: yes, beyond just the eff. date of the payments, all of the subsequent annual increases would occur a month earlier [adding even more value to the $112 m]. For every month those wages are put forward, it would be $2 million per year every year added to the $112 million making it $114 million average per year added to the value of the current combined contracts. CROSS EXAMINATION: FREUND: What would be the effect of having a January increase assuming a 12/2 start date for wages, if, as Laura Glading suggested in her testimony, the amendable date was pushed back a month? PATRICK: if the contract had gone into place on 12/2/14, your scenario would retain same economics that were modeled. However the eff. date of 12/2/14 is not necessarily to be the eff. date of the contract. FREUND: What if an amendable date was set for 12/2/14, would that create a $112 million valuation? PATRICK: Yes. FREUND: And you heard Ms. Glading make a comment about the possibility of moving the amendable date, correct? PATRICK: Yes.

FREUND: Did you place a value on the me too clauses? PATRICK: We did not place a value on the me too.

FREUND: In the LUS Redbook, there is a me too clause for health insurance in the event another workgroup gets it. Did you assign any value to it when it was removed from the Redbook with regards to the T/A? PATRICK: We did not assign any value to it.

PS: Witness' full name is Patrick Guiltinan.

Witness is excused. Company calls Jerry Glass as a witness. Employer is FMH Solutions group/management and labor relations consulting group

GLASS: Specialty is labor relations and contract negotiations. I'm the president. We have 17 employees that cover a variety of topics at my company. I've worked on 150 labor/management contracts. I've been chief negotiator for 145 or so of those. I was also the chief negotiator for the company in the AA/APFA negotiations.

AA: Any me too value in the LUS contract? GLASS: Yes. - for example Per Diem is valuable. AA: How does this impact AA? GLASS: A me too of a certain value such as the PS or medical me too could affect bargaining with another union and fixing their problem. Say we are in Section 6 negotiations with the dispatchers and they decide for whatever reason they are willing to pay whatever amount of money for their current health plan. We're in a cooling off period and I end up on the last night of the cooling off period (because you can't replace dispatchers) If I'm going to consider solving this problem with the dispatchers but I have a me too for 25,000 other employees tied to resolving the issues that is a huge problem for the company.

CROSS EXAMINATION: FREUND: you said one of the reasons a company doesn't like retro is because 1 - it wasn't negotiated in the T/A. GLASS: Yes. FREUND: but we're here to create an agreement through this panel, correct?) GLASS: It's already largely created FREUND: we're here to establish what will be the Agreement between the parties correct? GLASS: Yes. [Glass is now reviewing T/As 1, 2 and 3 at LUS and reminding the board that there was no retroactivity in any of those T/As.] This T/A is largely based on the LUS contract.

FREUND: the dispatchers' hypothetical negotiations scenario you proposed earlier [that could have "harmed" negotiations with the dispatchers in the final hour if the weight of 25,000 flight attendants and an equivalent program had to then be put in place for them, too] could have actually happened at LUS, correct? (referring to the "me too" clause in the LUS contract for medical) GLASS: Yes. [and a lot of explaining ensued about why it's different for flight attendants today than it was for the LUS contract back then...}

Glass is excused from the stand. Company rests its case.

Following a recess, the Board is addressing the room. Arbitrator Bloch is suggesting to the parties that they do not need closing arguments because of the thorough presentations already given. The Board will convene immediately following the meeting today to discuss calendars and the timing of a decision.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport chief executive Sean Donohue received a cash bonus and pay raise on Thursday for guiding the airport through its strong financial year.

On Thursday, the airport’s board approved a $113,850 cash bonus for Donohue, a little more than 25 percent of his $440,000 annual salary. The board also approved a 3 percent raise which will be effective on December 29, increasing Donohue’s salary to $453,200 a year.

Donohue has been the top executive at the airport for a little over a year and during that time the airport has served a record 62.9 million passengers. International traffic has grown as the airlines have added flights to China and the Persian Gulf region.

Prior to receiving his bonus, Donohue briefed the board on the airport’s financial performance for fiscal year 2014 which ended on September 30. He noted the airport generated over $100 million in revenues for the first time in its history and that 60 percent of its revenues come from non-airline sources such as concessions, parking and commercial development.

However, the airport needs to improve its customer experience, Donohue said, particularly as the airport spends $2.7 billion on renovating its four older terminals.

“Because of the impact that the construction is having on our customers at the airport, we have to step up our game,” Donohue said, adding it will be a primary focus for his executive team in 2015.

Donohue’s annual salary is slightly higher than his predecessor, Jeff Fegan, who retired in October 2013 after leading the airport for 19 years. Fegan also received a similar double-digit percent cash bonus in 2012.

December 03, 2014

American Airlines and its flight attendants union agree on everything in a proposed contract except for three big things, an arbitration panel was told Wednesday.

On the first day of arbitration hearings in Washington D.C., both sides agreed that a new joint contract should be valued at $112 million more annually than the current legacy contracts at American and US Airways, according to a filing made by the parties. They also agreed to include almost all of the language, with the exception of wage rates, from the tentative agreement that flight attendants narrowly rejected in November.

However, the union wants to add three items to the joint contract: “me-too” clauses for profit-sharing and health insurance and a Dec. 2 effective date for wages.

Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said she believes it wouldn’t be fair if other employee workgroups at American sucessfully negotiate profit-sharing plans in their new contracts and flight attendants don’t receive the same benefit. The APFA represents the 24,000 flight attendants that work at American and US Airways.

“I imagine the other workgroups will be demanding profit-sharing in their contracts,” Glading said in the hearing, the union tweeted. “Oil is lower than anyone imagined which makes profit-sharing even more attractive.”

Profit sharing has become an issue for several union groups at American as union leaders negotiated away profit sharing plans in exchange for wage increases prior to American’s merger with US Airways. Some flight attendants wanted to see it added back, now that the company is making hundreds of millions of dollars in profts, into the proposed joint contract but it was not. The proposed contract which was valued at $193 million more annually than the legacy contracts, failed by 16 votes out of over 16,000 cast.

Also on Wednesday, a few dozen flight attendants picketed outside of American’s headquarters in Fort Worth, saying the company should negotiate with flight attendants instead of forcing the union into binding arbitration.

The three issues that American and the union want the arbitration panel to decide are:

-adding a "me too" clause if other employee groups at American receive profit sharing plans but that would reduce flight attendant wage rates equal to $50 million a year.

-adding a "me too" clause for health insurance plans that may be negotiated by other employee groups at American.

-making the modified wage rates retroactive to December 2, 2014 instead of in January 2015.

The company is expected to present its case on Thursday to the panel.

"'We continue to work through the process to reach joint labor contracts for all of our work groups, including our flight attendants who will realize significant wage increases when the arbitration is complete," said American spokesman Paul Flaningan on Wednesday.

The arbitration panel is expected to issue a binding decision early next year.

American is currently in contract talks with its pilots union with the Allied Pilots Association board expected to discuss a possible tentative agreement next week. The company has yet to reach joint contracts with any of its work groups since closing its merger with US Airways last December.

Arbitrator Richard Bloch is making opening remarks prior to the beginning of the Interest Arbitration in Washington, D.C.

APFA will be presenting first with an opening statement by attorney Jeff Freund from Bredhoff and Kaiser in D.C.

Jeff Freund, APFA’s attorney is presenting APFA’s position, including a historical overview of the merger and the requirement for the arbitration back stop in order for the merger to proceed.

Freund is now commenting on our requests for a Me Too regarding Profit Sharing provided to any workgroup at AA as well as the Me Too for improved health benefits than we currently have.

Following Jeff’s opening statement, the arbitrators have called for a lunch break and we will reconvene at 1:15 p.m. Eastern time.

APFA and AA have stipulated to the $112 million per year above the current value of the combined contracts as market based in the aggregate. The outstanding items at dispute are the me-too clauses for health insurance and profit sharing as well as the request that increased wages be retroactive to December 2, 2014.

Laura is giving her union experience over the past 29 years as both an elected and appointed representative for APFA.

Laura was Chair of APFA’s negotiations from ’99-01, ’03 and from ’08 to present.

One of the threats during the restructuring “negotiations” in ’03 was that if one union left the building, the company would file for bankruptcy the very next day.

Laura is being asked about the environment just prior to AA's Chapter 11 filing and the fact that AA had no viable business plan to make any real recovery for the airline

"Just prior to filing bankruptcy, I met with other labor leaders who'd been through bankruptcy and what they would have done/not done... the consistent message from these people was to try to get a seat on the Creditors Committee.

"Negotiations with management for the 1113 began on February 1st that included a 20% cut across the board for all 3 unions. AA asked APFA for more than $200 million in cuts."

"Dan Akins (APFA's Airline Financial Analyst) was the first person to tell the UCC that the Plan of Reorganization would have to include a merger. The UCC was not interested in any merger at that point."

"Dan Akins (APFA's Airline Financial Analyst) was the first person to tell the UCC that the Plan of Reorganization would have to include a merger. The UCC was not interested in any merger at that point."

"I got a call from Scott Kirby who said that US Airways was interested in putting forth a plan to do a merger with AA inside bankruptcy and that the goal of US was to get employees on board. They said they would do it if all three unions agreed."

"In the 3rd week of March 2012, Dan Akins and I met with Scott Kirby in New York following a UCC meeting to discuss a potential merger with US."

"I spoke with the other two union presidents and after a good amount of discussions we all agreed to pursue the possibility of a merger inside bankruptcy."

"APFA then traveled to Tempe to meet with US Airways management to discuss the possibility. The next day, we called the APFA Negotiating Committee to Tempe. Scott Kirby's overarching message about what needed to be accomplished was that the Agreement would still be concessionary but not as big of an ask as the 1113.

"At that point the UCC wasn't interested in anything outside of what the debtors were asking for.

"The whole plan that US wanted to put forward was based on a Plan that included arrangements with the three unions. If these plans weren't in place, the merger couldn't go forward."

"APFA's objective in Tempe was to save the company - I was concerned AA wouldn't survive. I saw Delta and UAL growing and AA not being able to compete. Yes we were seeking a new management team, too. We'd already had so many cuts from our previous restructuring. We'd already been through our own faux bankruptcy ('03). It was very attractive to us to have a guarantee to have an industry rate contract coming out of bankruptcy."

LG: "We agreed to have a CLA/bridge agreement with US Airways until such time that we would negotiate a JCBA" (he pilots already had a good comparator with the DL and UAL/CAL contracts that brought their aggregate up to standard. We didn't have that yet since DL is unrepresented and DAL/CAL didn't yet have a JCBA. That's why we agreed to a CLA and negotiations after the merger.

FREUND: See the exhibit 5 - MOU dated 12/31/12 LG: The MOU is a document containing clarifications of the CLA because we felt the UCC was accepting the merger as a real possibility and they needed two plans. They wouldn't accept the merger without two complete plans to put forward. The MOU made clarifications for the UCC. Jack Butler, counsel to the UCC, worked on this MOU along with the unions.

Laura reads an excerpt from the 12/31 MOU that clarifies the CLA from 4/12 and the single Medical Plan. FREUND: Is it fair to say that the single line about the active single health plan is embodied in that MOU? Laura says that she knew there would be one single plan, but that that plan wasn't yet in place. "Right now the plan was to go with the current AA plan, but that was meant as a placeholder."

FREUND: You told us during your general discussions in Tempe that APFA took a different approach to the 5-6 year labor cost stability than the pilots took. The pilots already had a higher standard they were shooting against as opposed to the flight attendants. How is theirs different than APFA's?

LG: APA's framework is the exact same cost that it was in Tempe. Their (APA) standard for arbitration was limited to THAT value as negotiated in Tempe. Our standard according to the CLA was the industry average at the time we ended negotiations/arbitration.

LG: It was important to come out of bankruptcy and not have Flight Attendants have to live under a bankruptcy agreement for a long period of time.

FREUND: Following the DOJ lawsuit that was eventually settled and the merger closed, the CLA as modified by the 12/31/12 MOU kicked in and those terms and conditions kicked in. I skipped over one thing. After you negotiated the CLA, you still had the bankruptcy proceedings that led to the LBFO, correct?" LG: Yes.

LG: When the LBFO balloting was going on, we assured the members that if they ratified the LBFO, we would immediately move to improvements under the CLA as modified by the 12/31/12 MOU on bankruptcy exit provided there was a merger. Yes, the LBFO was ratified.

FREUND: Describe the change that was made to the negotiations standard via the NPA from the CLA. LG: We added two prongs. we said it would be greater than the LUS and LAA contracts at the time, and we extended the negotiations to 150 days.

LG: With the negotiations, which were not section 6, we had Jim McKenzie from the NMB "on loan" to facilitate our progress.

"LG: When we were in the process of printing the resolution to have the T/A sent to the membership for ratification, we'd heard that Richard Anderson had given DL (FAS) a raise. He gave them a 3% raise eff. April 1, 2014. I picked myself off the floor and called Doug Parker and Scott Kirby and agreed to match that wage increase (once they verified there was in fact a raise by Anderson) eff. December 2, 2014."

FREUND: That then increased the value of annual improvements in the T/A to $193 million. LG: Yes.

FREUND: And the T/A failed by 16 votes? LG: Yes, over 16,000 voted, and it failed by 16 votes. FREUND: Did DL mgt increase the value of some of its FA workrules to raise the aggregate by $1million? LG: Yes.

FREUND: "We brushed over this earlier because the proposal is to include virtually everything in the T/A except for wage rates so we didn't spend time on the meat of the T/A. I take it that the work that was done by the nego teams was prodigious works. LG: It was a tremendous job by the APFA nego team. The APFA team was so tenacious, coordinated and unifed throughout the process it was very impressive."

FREUND: RE: The health insurance "me, too." from APFA's standpoint, was the loss of the LUS health insurance plan a major issue to deal with? LG: Yes, it was an incredible plan and a huge problem. They'd just ratified a deal and held onto their health plan.

FREUND: In the T/A there is a one-year lag for the LUS FAs to transition to the AA company plan correct? LG: Yes. All of the constituencies in the bankruptcy (UCC, company, creditors) had knowledge of the provision defining what the single health care plan was in the CLA, correct?

LG: I imagine the other workgroups will be demanding PS in their contracts. Oil is lower than anyone imagined which makes PS even more attractive. FREUND: Do you think it would be fair, just and appropriate for other workgroups to have PS plan and APFA not? LG: No. I do not think it would be fair.

FREUND: The 12/2 date for commencement of the wage rates in the proposal. We are not asking that the eff. date of the CBA be retroactive to 12/2. We are asking for wages rates to be effective retro to 12/2 correct? LG: Yes. FREUND: Why? LG: I think we all understood where we wanted to be. It doesn't seem fair for FAs to have to wait a month for those earnings. It doesn't make any sense to APFA to make them wait.

CROSS EXAMINATION BY AA: In the rejected T/A, the eff. date of the wages would be the first day of the bid month following DOS, correct? LG: Yes. AA: The effective date of the wage increase would've been 12/2. LG: Yes. AA: The T/A didn't say that it would become effective 12/2 - in other words it didn't name a date, correct? It referenced first day of bid month following DOS, correct? LG: Yes. AA: The eff. date of the contract was going to be same date as the contract went into place, correct? LG: Yes

AA: Under the proposal, assuming we have a contract that comes out of arb and it becomes eff. on 1/2/15 for 5 years, your proposal would call for pay increases to become eff. on 12/2 prior to the 5-year CBA becoming effective, correct? LG: yes. AA: Counting the number of days it is approximately 30 days of pay added to the 5-year CBA. LG: Yes. AA: Wouldn't you think that 30-days of extra pay would represent value above the $112 million. LG: we would consider moving up the amendable date. It would seem only fair that whatever the pay rates were, they would be retroactive.

AA: On the healthcare Me Too, with some of the documents in the exhibit book, there's a CLA dated 4/12/12. If I understand this correctly, this bridge agreement was to cover pre-merger AA FAs, correct? LG: Yes. AA: Pre-merger LUS still remained under the AFA CBA, correct? LG: Yes. AA: There was also an agreement pointing out the single company health plan - I take it that represents a rather short form description that would apply to pre-merger AA FAs under the CLA, correct? LG: Yes and No. management told us at the time that their intention was for everyone to be under the same single health plan once there was a merger. The process piece under the CLA also is the other piece that speaks to both parties - the process of ratifying a JCBA.

Laura is excused from the witness stand. Dan Akins, APFA's airline economist is now the 2nd and final witness for APFA on the stand. Roger Pollak (Bredhoff & Kaiser) is directing questions on behalf of APFA.

Pollak: Could you describe for the panel how the company costed out the work rules for DL and UAL/CBA contracts to assess the industry rate in the aggregate? Dan: Our efforts included a comprehensive effort of determining an analysis that took into consideration all cost implications of a contract to evaluate three other contracts. We were essentially looking at US Airways, United, Continental, AA and Delta's terms of employment. Each company's valuations vary so it took some time for us to come to an agreement with the company on these values.

Pollak: In the modeling process, was it a joint effort between you on behalf of the union and some at the company to arrive on agreed upon values? Dan: Yes. I was encouraged by AA's and APFA's efforts to seek actual analytical proof of the value. Now, the resulting model (version 5) has to be updated every time Delta adds contractual components. This is a highly detailed robust cost model for FAs.

Akins: Once we determined that the other contracts were more valuable than the LAA and LUS contracts by going line by line to determine how they accrued sick, vacation days/hours, premium pay, hourly rates, hotels, parking, per diem, 401k, etc... it was greatly a detailed analysis ... we added these values together then divided by 3 to come up with the total amount that we would compare to our current CBAs.

Akins: We started out at agreeing to $37 million and it eventually was elevated to $61 million. Then when DL improved FA training pay and other work rules, we added another million to bring it to what it is today at $62 million.

Pollak: did that include DL increases in the future? Akins: yes. Pollak: the $62 million is above the $1.62 b. value of the combined contracts, correct? Akins: yes. the contracts are somewhat close together now. You can see what's happening now and there's a labor cost convergence.

Akins - the easiest lever to pull in the T/A is the wage lever because it represents the majority of the improvements. No other change in the T/A could have gotten us $81 million. After a day or two we quickly realized that to pull things other than wages, the test of the 3 prongs in the NPA weren't met. The outcome of the T/A had to be more than the status quo provisions in their separate contracts. All the value is at the top of the scale. Most of it had to come from top of scale to find $81 million. We needed to ensure that none of the rates in our proposal were below the current rates.

Dan Akins is excused from the stand. Board and counsel will meet in chambers.

Southwest Airlines' customer service agents and customer representatives approved a new contract that includes pay raises and signing bonuses.

The 6,000 workers, who are represented by the International Association of Machinists, ratified the four-year agreement "by a majority of the voting membership," the union said on Wednesday.

"The negotiation committee would like to thank you for your patience and support in achieving another industry leading contract," IAM district 142 president David Supplee said in a union statement.

The contract includes 1.5 percent pay raises on the date of signing and for the first three years of the deal. In the last year of the contract, workers will receive a 2 percent raise.

"The new agreement rewards our IAM-represented employees for their exceptional performance, while supporting our mission of being the number one low-cost carrier in the country," Southwest said in a statement.

Southwest is currently in contract negotiations with its pilots and ramp workers, both who have asked for federal mediators to help with contract talks. It is also in contract talks with flight attendants and several other ground worker groups.

The first flight connecting Abu Dhabi and Dallas/Fort Worth is in the air right now, heading to Texas.

On Wednesday, Etihad Airways launched its nonstop service between the United Arab Emirates and DFW. It will have three flights a week until next spring when it will increase to daily flights.

Etihad is using a Boeing 777-200LR on the route with eight first class seats, 40 business class seats and 177 seats in economy. Passengers on the flight will not have to enter through U.S. customs as they pass through a pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi. As a result, if they have a domestic connecting flight out of DFW, they can head straight to their connecting gate once they land.

With the addition of Etihad, DFW becomes one of only four airports in the U.S. that has all three Gulf carriers operating flights to the Middle East. Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways both have daily flights to Dubai and Doha respectively. Earlier this fall, Emirates increased its capacity on its Dubai route with the use of a double-decker Airbus A380 on the route.

If you want to follow the inaugural Etihad Airways flight, which left a couple of hours late, click here. The flight is expected to land at 5:27 p.m. CST.

December 01, 2014

-An American Airlines jet arriving at New York's JFK airport from Barcelona on Sunday was taken to a secure area at JFK after it landed because of a bomb threat. ABC News reports that passengers were taken to holding buses while their luggage was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs. No bomb was found on the flight.

-Los Angeles is the epicenter of the battle for premium customers on transcontinental flights, the Los Angeles Times reports. "The weapons in the fight for the transcontinental VIP are luxuries like down pillows, in-flight espresso machines, chauffeur-driven Cadillacs and meals cooked up by celebrity chefs," the article says.

-Don't expect falling oil prices to translate into lower air fares, says USA Today. "With the traveling public currently itching to fly, and keeping many planes filled, carriers have little incentive to pass along any fuel savings to consumers in the form of cheaper tickets," according to the article.

November 26, 2014

The winter weather sweeping through the northeast has caused airlines to cancel over 500 flights on one of the busiest travel days of the Thanksgiving weekend.

According to FlightStats, 584 flights have been cancelled while almost 2,500 flights have been delayed. The hardest hit airports include New York's LaGuardia, Newark, Washington D.C.'s Reagan and Philadelphia.

American Airlines said it was waiving change fees for customers flying in and out of airports on the East Coast. The airline has cancelled only 10 flights so far but has 97 delays, FlightStats reports. US Airways, which merged with American last year, has 6 cancellations and 108 delayed flights.

"Our operations team is continually monitoring the situation, at this point there are no cancellations because of weather in the northeast," said American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely. "There are [air traffic control] programs in place at several of the northeast airports that are cause some delays."

At American's largest hub, Dallas/Fort Worth, FlightStats reports that 14 arrivals and 13 departures have been cancelled and 77 arrivals and 78 departures are delayed.

November 25, 2014

Baggage handlers at Southwest Airlines are no longer baring their chests to boast that “Bags Fly Free” in company ads.

Instead, dozens of ground workers picketed outside of Dallas Love Field on Tuesday, carrying signs featuring Southwest’s new heart logo broken in half, with the words: “It’s Just a Machine Without a Heart.” The signs played off the Dallas-based carrier’s new television ads that say “Without a heart, it’s just a machine.”

More than 10,000 ground workers at Southwest have been without a new contract for more than three years and talks between Transport Workers Union Local 555 and company management have been tense. Although both sides met this month to negotiate, they hadn’t met since July.

At Love Field, union members passed out fliers to passengers leaving for Thanksgiving trips saying that Southwest has mishandled more bags so far this year than any other major U.S. airline.

“Southwest is putting profits before people,” said Charles Cerf, president of TWU Local 555. “We’re afraid that over the years [the lost bags] will erode our customer base.”

The union cites recent Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that show Southwest lost 439,770 bags between January and September this year for a rate of 4.31 reports per 1,000 passengers. Southwest ranked 9th out of 12 carriers, with three regional airlines faring worse. American Airlines ranked 8th with 345,610 bags lost in the first nine months of the year for a rate of 3.76.

In the past few years, Southwest has started flying larger Boeing 737-800 aircraft that can carry more bags and the carrier’s network has gotten larger with its acquistion of AirTran Airways. Yet the company has not hired more ramp workers to maintain its quick turnaround times at airports, the picketers said.

And with the end of the Wright Amendment restrictions and the start of long-hual flying at Love Field, ramp workers are handling more bags that are heavier and must be being loaded onto larger planes.

“We’re going nonstop to all these great destinations now and making these record profits,” said Melinda Miles, a 10-year ramp worker for Southwest who lives in Fort Worth. “And yet for some reason they can’t give their people a contract for three years. I think that’s a little bit too long and a little bit ridiculous.”

The company has been in contract negotiations with the ground workers since July 2011 and the union members have not had a pay raise since 2010. The two sides filed for federal mediation in September 2012.

Southwest said it shares the union’s sense of urgency to reach an agreement.

“Reaching the right deal for both employees and the company remains a top priority; and it must be one that is fair to all employees, enables the company to grow, and protects our position as a low-cost leader in the industry,” the companny said in a statement on Tuesday.

With more flights out of Love Field, Southwest’s cargo operations have also increased but the staffing has not, said Shawn Clark, a freight agent at Southwest. For example, the freight crew used to handle 10 to 15 overnight cargo shipments and now it’s handling more than 30 every night. Clark said the company has only added one other employee to help in his department.

Southwest acknowledged that its “bags fly free” policy attracts more customers to the carrier particularly since most of its competitors charge passengers for checked bags. It said that as far back as the 1980s, Southwest carried an average of 80 bags per 100 passengers and that remains the same today.

“Staffing has increased at a higher rate than bags handled and today, the annual number of bags handled per Ramp Agent has declined,” the company said.

In a newspaper ad that ran Tuesday, the union asked the question, “Has Southwest lost its way?”

“Losing bags is bad — but eventually they find their way home,” says the ad, which appeared in USA Today. “Losing a successful company culture can be forever.”

Informational picketing was also held today at Southwest’s operations in Baltimore and Los Angeles.

Shannon Jones, a ramp worker who has worked at Love Field for seven years, said employees are not disgruntled, just disappointed.

“I love working here. We just want to see that the company’s founding principles are adhered to,” Jones said.

Informational picketing is a common practice during negotiations and will not impact our operations. We have always supported, and will continue to support, our Employees’ right to express their opinions. We continue to share the Unions sense of urgency to secure a fair agreement. Reaching the right deal for both Employees and the Company remains a top priority; and it must be one that is fair to all Employees, enables the Company to grow, and protects our position as a low-cost leader in the industry.

Regarding bag delivery, the packing habits of Southwest passengers have not changed for decades. Going as far back as the 1980’s, Southwest carried an average of 80 bags per 100 passengers, and this fundamental fact remains true today. When our competitors added bag fees, the average number of bags carried on other airlines did decrease, which helped improve the DOT rankings of the competition.

Although passengers are carrying the same number of bags, our Bags Fly Free policy does attract more Customers to Southwest – improving the bottom line. That being said, staffing has increased at a higher rate than bags handled and today, the annual number of bags handled per Ramp Agent has declined.

November 24, 2014

Southwest Airlines ground workers are telling customers that the Dallas-based airline is losing more bags than other major carriers and asking the question, "Has Southwest lost its way?" in a new ad that will run in USA Today on Tuesday.

The Transport Workers Union Local 555 represents thousands of Southwest ground workers and is running the ad as the union continues to try to reach a new contract with the airline.

"Losing bags is bad - but eventually they find their way home," the ad says. "Losing a successful company culture can be forever."

The ground workers will also be picketing outside of Dallas Love Field on Tuesday as travelers leave for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"We can't stand idly by while management makes bad decisions that drive away passengers," said TWU Local 555 President Charles Cerf in a press release. "If people keep losing bags on Southwest, they'll vote with their wallets and select other carriers - and that threatens the livelihood of our members."

The union has been in contract talks with Southwest since July 2011 and has not had a pay raise since 2010, the union said.

You take one day off and all sorts of news happens, so this edition of Monday Midday Must-Reads is a catch-up of everything going on at American Airlines, it's regional carrier Envoy Air and Thanksgiving travel at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

-American and its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association will keep negotiating towards a new joint contract through mid-December instead of moving into the arbitration process, according to the Wall Street Journal.

-American also announced on Friday it was moving 50 regional jets from Envoy Air to three other carriers because of the lack of pilots at Envoy, the Associated Press reported. "Senior vice president Kenji Hashimoto said in a memo to employees that without "a cost-effective pilot agreement," Envoy won't get new planes and will find it hard to recruit new pilots. It is losing about 20 pilots a month to American," the article says.

-My colleague Gordon Dickson also covered DFW Airport's holiday campaign presser for me. Here's a look at the giant snow globe passengers will get to stand in for a holiday photo op at the airport.

Tom Horton, who guided American Airlines through bankruptcy, has joined the board of Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart said it is adding Horton as its 16th member of its board of directors and he will also serve on the company's audit committee.

"I've long admired Walmart’s values and its successful record of improving people’s lives around the world," Horton said in a statement. "Walmart has a strong leadership team backed by a solid business plan and is building new and innovative ways to serve customers."

Horton, 53, became chief executive of American on the day it filed for bankruptcy in November 2011. He stepped down from that role when American merged with US Airways in December. He remained chairman of American until June 3.

The Thanksgiving travel season is upon us, and Americans are hitting the skies and the roads in numbers not seen since 2007. Fort Worth Star-Telegram aviation reporter Andrea Ahles and transportation writer Gordon Dickson explore the upcoming festivities from a mobillity point of view.

November 21, 2014

It's the start of the busiest travel period and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport says its ready with giant snow-globes and luggage porters.

The airport predicts that this will be the busiest holiday season ever in its 40 year history. More than 2.25 million passengers are expected to travel through DFW between November 20 and December 2, a 1.4 percent increase over last year.

"Millions of customers will be traveling through DFW Airport this holiday season, and it is our mission to make the journey as easy and cheerful as possible," said airport chief executive Sean Donohue in a statement.

DFW recently reopened 44 renovated gates as part of its terminal redevelopment program. The new gates are in Terminals A, B and E and are ready for the holidays.

To help customers relax during their holiday trip, the airport willl have luggage porters to assist customers in the parking garages and will offer complimentary coffee vouchers to its valet parking users and DART passengers.

It is also adding giant walk-in snow globes in each of its five terminals where passengers can climb in and take a holiday photo as part of its "Cheer Starts Here!" campaign.

November 20, 2014

American Airlines is in preliminary discussions with local leaders about a possible new headquarters location for the carrier.

Chief executive Doug Parker confirmed that the Fort Worth-based airline has talked with Fort Worth leaders as well as other North Texas officials about possibilities for a new headquarters campus.

"It's one of the things that we're looking at," Parker said. "There are a number of options including staying exactly where we are. We have a perfectly acceptable facility today, just wondering if there might be a better opportunity, so we're investigating whether that might be the case."

He added that some of the sites that the company is looking at are outside Fort Worth, but stressed it is still in the preliminary stages.

"There is no time limit whatsoever," Parker said. "This is not on the top of the list with all the priorities we have right now."

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said she has had conversations with American executives about a headquarters building but declined to discuss any details.

"They are one of our largest employers and we certainly want to work with them," Price said. "They have a huge footprint here already and we'd love to keep them a Fort Worth company."

Southwest Airlines pilots' union filed for federal mediators to intervene in its contract talks with the Dallas-based carrier on Thursday.

The two sides have been in negotiations for a new contract for over two years and the union says they are still far apart on several issues.

"This is certainly not a step either side wants to take during negotiations, and certainly not a typical step in the pilot and management relationship at Southwest Airlines," Southwest Airlines Pilots Association president Mark Richardson said in a statement.

The pilots are the third labor group at Southwest to request federal mediation from the National Mediation Board to help facilitate their contract talks.

Southwest senior vice president of labor relations Randy Babbitt said the company offered to file jointly for mediation with the pilots union, but the pilots declined.

"We have been optimistic that we were closing the gap to achieve a new agreement, but the SWAPA Board stopped further negotiations and has chosen mediation as its next step," Babbitt said.

November 19, 2014

As a 25-year flight attendant for American Airlines, Jerry Casas felt the latest contract proposal would give the company more concessions while the airline is posting record profits.

“There were too many gaps, too many to-be-determineds in the contract,” said Casas, who works international flights out of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. “It was a big block of Swiss cheese.”

About 100 flight attendants gathered outside of a union board meeting at the Hilton DFW Lakes in Grapevine on Wednesday to discuss the recent rejection of a contract proposal and their dissatisfaction with their union’s leadership.

Holding signs that said “We voted for a world-class airline,” the flight attendants greeted American Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker and President Scott Kirby as they entered the hotel to attend the Association of Professional Flight Attendants board meeting. Parker spoke briefly to the group after he met with the union board.

“We were disappointed that we didn’t get the [tentative agreement] passed,” Parker told the flight attendants. “My personal view is a lot of this was a lot of history that we walked into that I understand and the result is not as much trust as we would like to have at this point between management and our employees.”

Earlier this month, the flight attendants rejected a contract proposal that included pay raises and a minimum work requirement of 480 hours per year. Out of over 16,000 votes cast, the contract was rejected by a margin of 16 votes.

Nancy Sperry, a DFW flight attendant who has worked for American a little over a year, said she was concerned about the work rules in the proposed contract.

“Its important to be a part of a workforce that is compensated fairly for its efforts, the pay that was talked about is not evenly distributed,” Sperry said, who currently is flying on reserve. “But this isn’t about money. It’s about work rules and being valued as an employee. We are an integral part of the face of the new American.”

Most of the work rules in the proposed contract are already in place for US Airways flight attendants so that was not an issue for Philadelphia-based flight attendant Karen Bettin. Bettin said she hopes a joint contract for the flight attendants includes better 401(k) and health insurance options.

“We’re at a point where we really need to stand united, all 24,000 of us, whether you voted yes or no on the contract,”’ Bettin said, who attended the meeting.

As a US Airways flight attendant, she also has a profit sharing plan which was not included in the proposed contract. American flight attendnants used to have a profit sharing plan but it was negotiated out of the current contract and some have wanted to add it back. Bettin says she would rather have fixed pay raises now adding that profit sharing should be treated like a bonus instead of part of the total compensation package in a contract.

Parker and Kirby met with union leaders for about an hour and half and talked about the arbitration process which is set to begin on December 3. Both the union and the company have said the contract determined by the arbitration panel will likely be worth $82 million less in wages and benefits than the contract that was rejected.

“What we learned in this process is that there is still a trust issue between what management says and what the employees believe and you don’t build trust by not doing what you said you were going to do...so we’re moving forward with arbitration,” Parker said, adding that it is unlikely there will be another flight attendant vote because that is not part of the arbitration process.

APFA spokeswoman Leslie Mayo said the meeting was focused on preparing for the arbitration process and welcomed members who wanted to express their opinions on the contract vote to the board.

“The contract that will be awarded is according to the agreement is ‘market-based in the aggregate’,” Mayo said. “I have to say it’s so great to see so many flight attendants at a meeting.”

The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Wednesday that it has launched new air-traffic routes in and out of North Texas airports that will reduce emissions and save airlines jet fuel.

The 80 take-off and landing procedures will save up to 4.1 million gallons of jet fuel each year and reduce carbon emissions by 41,000 metric tons a year, said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. The new procedures take advantage of GPS technology and new flight software technology on modern aircraft.

“Planes are flying fewer miles and they’re burning less fuel,” Huerta said. “Flights are arriving a little earlier than before and departures are able to get on their way even faster.”

The FAA spent $5.5 million over the past 30 months working on the new procedures that have redesigned the airspace over North Texas airports. The agency worked with air traffic controllers, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Dallas/Fort Worth airport and pilots unions to create and test the new arrival and departure paths.

Previously, airplanes preparing to land at Dallas Love Field sometimes overlapped with the flight paths of airplanes arriving at DFW airport. With the new procedures, that issue has been resolved.

“Every flight that comes into DFW as a result of the programs we’re talking about today, will see a reduction of 300 to 500 pounds of fuel per flight, reducing our carbon emissions,” said American chief operating officer Robert Isom.

Passengers will likely notice a difference when the aircraft they are on descends into DFW. The new procedures allow pilots to almost idle engines as the aircraft continuously descends from 37,000 feet as it approaches the runway instead of descending to a certain altitude and leveling off and then descending again.

The new procedures were put into place on September 18 and after 60 days, Isom said American has already seen improved on-time arrivals and departures reliability at DFW, its largest hub.

November 18, 2014

American Airlines is no longer asking its pilots to expand scope clauses but isn't making any other changes to its contract proposal made last week, the pilots union said on Tuesday evening.

In a message to pilots, the Allied Pilots Association said the Fort Worth airline did not agree to any of the union's counterproposals which included 26 percent pay increases for some pilots in 2015.

"While your APA leadership is not satisfied with where things stand in bargaining, we will continue discussions with management in an effort to secure additional value that recognizes the critical leadership role of American Airlines pilots.

The union said negotiators will meet with the company tomorrow to address questions the union has on some of American's proposals.

Last week, American sent a formal contract proposal to the APA board that included an 18 percent pay raise that would take effect on Dec. 1 and a scope change that would allow regional carriers to fly medium-size planes with up to 70 seats.

The two sides have continued contract negotiations even though a Saturday deadline passed. They are hoping to reach a deal for pilots to vote on before the scheduled start of binding arbitration in mid-January.

The APA board of directors reconvened at 1 p.m. Central today and spent the bulk of the afternoon in executive session discussing next steps in the joint collective bargaining agreement talks.

The APA Negotiating Committee debriefed the board on management's response to APA's comprehensive counter-proposal. Management removed their Scope-related proposal from the JCBA negotiations. However, management did not agree to any of APA's new proposed items from last week. While there was no change to previously announced tentative agreements, management indicated that their comprehensive proposal from last week minus their previous Scope "ask" remains unchanged.

The APA Negotiating Committee indicated that they have questions concerning several of management's proposed items. Our negotiating team and management are scheduled to meet again tomorrow morning to further address these items.

The board recessed this evening and will reconvene at 9 a.m. tomorrow to resume discussion of next steps. While your APA leadership is not satisfied with where things stand in bargaining, we will continue discussions with management in an effort to secure additional value that recognizes the critical leadership role of American Airlines pilots.

November 17, 2014

-A new video emerged over the weekend that apparently shows the immediate aftermath of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17's crash in east Ukraine. The video, aired on CNN, shows large plumes of black smoke rising out of a field with residents appearing to try to put out small fires.

-United Airlines announced it will spend $120 million renovating its terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport. Travelers will be able to use 6,000 iPads in the terminal to order food and drinks and some of the gate areas will be renovated with custom seating and table service, the Associated Press reports.

-Travel writer, Peter Greenberg, breaks it down for consumers on how much airlines are making from bag fees and change fees and all the other fees that travelers pay. In this blog post, he points out that airlines around the world made $31.5 billion in revenues from these fees in 2013, with the top five U.S. airlines earning $13.5 billion.

November 14, 2014

The Allied Pilots Association released some of the details of its counter proposal to American Airlines on Friday morning.

The union proposal included 16.29 percent pay increase for two pilot classifcations and pay increases for the rest that would match various Delta Air Lines aircraft-specific pay rates. It also had an additional 10 percent pay increase on top of those pay rates for 2015 and 3.5 percent pay increases each year from 2016 through 2019.

The board said it will reconvene on Tuesday afternoon after negotiators both the company and the union meet.

"We are committed to securing a negotiated agreement commensurate with your sacrifices, your role in bringing the merger to fruition and your critical role in our revitalized airline's day-to-day success," APA president Keith Wilson said in a note to pilots on Friday evening. "As the pilots who fly for the world's largest airline — a company producing the highest profits in its entire history — nothing less will do."

American responded saying that there is no deal yet but will continue discussions next weeek.

As reported earlier in a hotline message, the APA Negotiating Committee presented management with a comprehensive counter-proposal today designed to address the deficiencies in management's initial JCBA proposals.

Management's negotiators responded by indicating they would like to review our proposal during the next couple of days and prepare a response. Accordingly, our negotiating teams will meet again early next week. The APA board of directors recessed its meeting mid-afternoon and will reconvene Tuesday afternoon.

Key elements of our comprehensive counter-proposal include the following:

In lieu of profit-sharing, a pay component of 10 percent above the following pay rates:

Group I — A 16.29 percent increase over the Jan. 1, 2015, MTA rate, but not less than the applicable first-year pay rate

Group II — An increase to match DL 737-800 2015 pay rate

Group III — An increase to match DL 767-300 2015 pay rate

Group IV — An increase to match DL 777 2015 pay rate

Group V — A 16.29 percent increase over the Jan. 1, 2015, MTA rate

3.5 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2016

3.5 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2017

3.5 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2018

3.5 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2019

Mid-contract compensation adjustment:On the earlier of:

The effective date of a new Delta Air Lines Pilot Agreement, or

The effective date of a new United Airlines Pilot Agreement

But not earlier than Jan. 1, 2017, pay rates in Section 3 will be adjusted to the higher of the rates in the AA JCBA, the DL CBA or the UA CBA

Make A321 pay equivalent to Group III pay

Average day value of 5:20 applied to "calendar day"

Length-of-service credit for pilots with furlough time

Improvements to Long Term Disability (LTD) benefit to include increase to monthly cap and duration

Fellow pilots, we are committed to securing a negotiated agreement commensurate with your sacrifices, your role in bringing the merger to fruition and your critical role in our revitalized airline's day-to-day success. As the pilots who fly for the world's largest airline — a company producing the highest profits in its entire history — nothing less will do.

More operational cuts at Envoy Air could be announced soon, the regional carrier's pilots union said on Friday.

In a message sent to Envoy pilots, union leader Sam Pool said additional announcements by American Airlines Group, who owns Envoy, will be made soon and could negatively impact the airline's operations.

"Without sufficient pilots, our aircraft are at risk of being parked or, more likely, reassigned to other carriers. Without sufficient pilots, remaining Envoy domiciles may not be properly staffed and consequently face uncertainty," said Pool, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association master executive council for Envoy. "And lastly, without a viable growth plan here, AAG will likely attempt to place any new aircraft at other regional carriers."

Pool said contract talks between management and the union had been going well until the middle of this week when American said it was terminating negotiations.

"Last week’s negotiations actually moved management and ALPA closer to—not further from—an agreement. The discussions were honest, direct, and businesslike," Pool said. "Needless to say, we were surprised by management’s ensuing silence."

Earlier this year, Envoy pilots rejected a contract that would have frozen pilot pay rates until 2018 in exchange for larger regional jets being placed at the airline. The two sides have held intermittent talks since March with no new agreement reached.

Late last month, representatives from AAG, Envoy, and ALPA met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the framework for contract modifications. The company had previously provided a “term sheet” outlining the changes they wanted, and some items in the proposal needed clarification. Your ALPA leadership and negotiators worked throughout the early part of last week to prepare a response. Our counterproposal recognized the company’s economic demands, and agreed on most items, as they were consistent with the needs and expectations of both management and our pilot group.

On Wednesday, November 5, your leadership met with company representatives to present our counterproposal and work toward common ground. We left that meeting with the understanding that management would incorporate some of the elements of our constructive dialogue, refine their proposal, and present another proposal to ALPA at a time to be determined. However, the following day, we received a brief call from management indicating the company was terminating negotiations with ALPA, with little explanation other than an articulated offense pertaining to an MEC NewsBlast that referenced our current concerns.

In our view, last week’s negotiations actually moved management and ALPA closer to—not further from—an agreement. The discussions were honest, direct, and businesslike. While the parties remained separate on some important issues, we agreed on a lot more. The talks revealed a number of areas where there had been some misunderstandings, and our hope was that with clarifications the parties could resolve all open issues. Needless to say, we were surprised by management’s ensuing silence.

Unfortunately, we will soon hear additional announcements that were planned by AAG well in advance of our recent dialogue that may have a negative impact on both our operation and our morale. Please be cognizant of the fact that these announcements have far less to do with a breakdown in negotiations than they do with AAG/Envoy’s current inability to attract pilots. Without sufficient pilots, our aircraft are at risk of being parked or, more likely, reassigned to other carriers. Without sufficient pilots, remaining Envoy domiciles may not be properly staffed and consequently face uncertainty. And lastly, without a viable growth plan here, AAG will likely attempt to place any new aircraft at other regional carriers.

Your MEC met in Dallas on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to receive a detailed update on the current situation and consider all available options. The MEC remains committed to working with management in order to bring forward an agreement that meets the needs of both the company and the Envoy pilots.

Virgin America went public on Friday and its shares immediately took off.

The San Francisco-based carrier priced its shares at $23.00 for its initial public offering and by midday, shares were trading around $29.90, up 30 percent.

The company issued 13.3 million shares for the public sale under the ticker symbol VA on the NASDAQ exchange. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group owns a 22 percent stake in the U.S. airline.

Virgin America recently launched service at Dallas Love Field after the Wright Amendment restrictions were lifted in October. The carrier, which bills itself as a hipper way to fly, is much smaller than other domestic airlines, with 53 planes flying to 21 destinations.

The airline lost millions since it was founded until last year when it posted a $10.1 million profit for 2013.

I cannot deny that I was disappointed in the outcome of the T/A balloting results. As with any balloting or election, the outcome is usually less harmful than the disunity it can cause. We cannot let that happen. We have an amazing workforce that has endured incredible challenges and disappointments, and we have always managed to pick ourselves up because we take care of, and truly care for, each other. Let's commit - right now - that we are going to continue our battle to better our profession, and that we are going to do it together.

It is time to start preparing for the next steps. We need to put our absolute best foot forward in arbitration. It is imperative that we work together on creating the best possible outcome.

My discussions with the company – and there have been many – have confirmed that they are unwilling to make any moves that would in any way signal to our workgroup, as well as all the other groups on the property, that a No vote would result in anything other than what was promised: arbitration within the parameters outlined in the NPA. I have been pushing for mediation and the possibility of discussing any and all possible relief but the company will only agree to meet to discuss arbitration protocol.

I encourage all Flight Attendants to talk to your local leadership. The APFA Board of Directors has been a rock throughout these many challenges. I cannot thank them enough for their leadership. The APFA Leadership’s primary concern has always been, and will always be, the work lives of Flight Attendants.

Continue to hold your heads high. We have achieved amazing things before and I know we have a tremendous amount of fight left in all of us. We must stick together. Unity has not failed us.

November 12, 2014

American Airlines pilots had the opportunity to review the carrier's contract proposal and the union said the response was "overwhelming negative."

In a message sent to pilots on Wednesday evening, Allied Pilots Association president Keith Wilson said that management's proposals were lacking on several issues, including pay.

"Management does not appear to be interested in providing our pilots with a compensation package comparable to industry leader Delta Air Lines," Wilson wrote. "While initially proposed pay rates are fractionally higher than Delta's current pilot pay rates, there's little adjustment for the absence of profit-sharing, which this year will equal 15 percent of annual earnings for Delta pilots."

The two sides previously agreed to a 30-day negotiating extension that lasts through Saturday. The new contract would cover pilots from both American and US Airways. It is unclear whether the company will agree to another negotiation extension or instead will let negotiations go to binding arbitration.

Since I forwarded management's initial joint collective bargaining agreement economic proposals to you yesterday, the feedback we have received on the proposals has been overwhelmingly negative. No disagreement here. Management's initial proposals are seriously lacking on various fronts.

After reading the letter from American Airlines President Scott Kirby yesterday morning addressed to the APA board of directors, your APA leadership expected something a lot different from what we received. Mr. Kirby noted that issues regarding Scope bring with them "a lot of history and skepticism," and he's right. The contrast between Mr. Kirby's letter and the proposals that followed will only add to that baggage. While there was no call for an increase from 76 seats to 81 seats on commuter aircraft, management instead simply shifted their aim with a Scope proposal to add five seats to the medium-sized (up to 70 seats) regional jets. Moving this limitation would be well outside the industry standard. When compared to the industry standard, what management has proposed would dramatically increase the number of 70-seat commuter aircraft and related capacity flown by regional affiliates.

In addition, management does not appear to be interested in providing our pilots with a compensation package comparable to industry leader Delta Air Lines. While initially proposed pay rates are fractionally higher than Delta's current pilot pay rates, there's little adjustment for the absence of profit-sharing, which this year will equal 15 percent of annual earnings for Delta pilots. This means that American Airlines pilots' compensation would continue to trail industry leader Delta by a significant margin. Meanwhile, our airline is producing its best-ever financial results, with forecasts of industry-leading profits and margins going forward. What's wrong with this picture?

Delta's CEO recently addressed the importance of a "positive employee culture" and "rewarding employees with pay for performance through profit sharing," adding that it "drives revenue growth and better financial returns." American Airlines management evidently believes otherwise. With the exception of Spirit Airlines, American Airlines is the only other airline that does not provide profit-sharing to its pilots.

Management's initial proposals would have American Airlines pilots remaining under bankruptcy-era work rules and likewise do not address length-of-service credit and numerous other important quality-of-life issues that we have raised in bargaining. Additionally, their initial proposals fail to recognize that Delta pilots are on the cusp of negotiating a new contract that will likely lead to pay rate increases that will surpass management's proposed pay rates in quick fashion.

During a recent conference, Mr. Kirby stated that better labor relations "lead to better financial results and better customer service." Management's initial proposals are inconsistent with that virtuous cycle and with the positive employee culture that has made this merger so successful thus far.

Where do we go from here? The APA board of directors convened at 1 p.m. today to discuss management's proposals and determine our next steps. The APA Negotiating Committee, Scope Committee, Industry Analysis Committee and director of economic and financial analysis addressed the board this afternoon.

The APA national officers and board of directors received management's initial economic proposals today in the joint collective bargaining agreement negotiations, which we have posted to APA Negotiations. Although management has characterized its proposals as "comprehensive," they read more like a broad outline of the contractual areas management wants to discuss. From our vantage point, the proposals appear incomplete, as they do not address many of APA's quality-of-life-related negotiating priorities.

November 11, 2014

American Airlines has formally presented a contract proposal to its pilots union which is considering whether or not it will send proposal to its members for a vote.

According to a letter sent by American president Scott Kirby to the Allied Pilots Association on Tuesday, the contract proposal would give pilots the highest pay rate among legacy carriers.

"It is my hope that as we build a stronger, more trusting relationship that, together, we will be able to reach the best economic considerations for the 100,000 employees of American and the company in the future," Kirby wrote in the letter obtained by the Star-Telegram.

The proposal does not include the company's initial request to add 5 more seats to the regional jet work scope section of the contract that would allow regional carriers, like Envoy Air and Piedmont Airlines, to fly jets with 81 seats instead of the current scope of 76 seats.

Kirby said that adding those five seats would translate into tens of millions of dollars in new revenue annually to the airline.

"Even though we believe the scope request is in the best interest of all involved, we believe that establishing trust with our employees is even more important," Kirby wrote. "Today's proposal omits a request to add five seats to the 76-seat jets as a sign of good faith to demonstrate the trust we want to build."

APA spokesman Gregg Overman said the union’s board will convene on Wednesday to consider the proposal.

The two sides had previously agreed to a 30-day negotiating extension that lasts through November 15.

If the APA decides by the end of the week to send the proposal to members for a ratification vote, there is another extension for 45 days. And if a contract agreement is reached outside of arbitration, pay rates would become effective on December 1, regardless of the actual effective date of the contract.

Today the Company passed a comprehensive joint collective bargaining agreement (JCBA) proposal to APA that does not include the anticipated request for adding five seats to our larger regional jets. We have excluded that request, even though we believe it is in the Company's best interest, in an effort to build much needed trust into our labor-management relations at the new American.

Most of you know that I strongly believe adding five more seats to these larger RJs is in the best interests of American Airlines and our pilots. Allowing our RJ providers to properly configure those jets with 81 seats, rather than being constrained to 76 per the APA contract, would increase the number of passengers flowing onto the mainline. And we know that more passengers flowing to the mainline is good for everyoone at American including our pilots. My own conservative estimate is that adding these five seats would mean tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue annually to American. Equally important to the additional revenue, though, is that those five seats greatly enhance our network feed to grow the mainline - particularly in international markets.

We know there is a lot of history and skepticism around this issue that causes our pilots to believe this change would harm the careers of mainline pilots. Over the last several weeks, I've spent a lot of time talking with pilots and explained my macro-economic views about this issue. I've concluded through those conversations that most pilots, once they understand the economics today between RJs and the mainline, become more open to this change. However, economic rationale aside, given the prior history surrounding this issue, it is understandably difficult for our pilots to feel good about the request for five more seats today.

It seems the reason it is difficult to convince our pilots that this change is in their best interest - and not some nefarious scheme to harm them in some way - is because the pilots of American do not fully trust management. Given the history of labor relations at American and US Airways, we can appreciate why that feeling exists. But we want to change that perception and the entire leadership team at AA is working very hard to do so.

Trust is vital to our ability to move forward and build the greatest airline in the world - together. So, even though we believe the scope request is in the best interest of all involved, we believe that establishing trust with our employees is even more important. Today's proposal omits a request to add five seats to the 76-seat jets as a sign of good faith to demonstrate the trust we want to build. Our proposal gives American pilots the highest pay rates amongst our large, network peers, and does so well before anyone could have contemplated. It is my hope that as we build a stronger, more trusting relationship that, together, we will be able to reach the best economic considerations for the 100,000 employees of American and the Company in the future.

So today we take an important step to jumpstart the trust-building process. We would ask each of you move forward in a similar spirit. Building the new American requires all of us to think differently about how we work together - your management team is committed to a new approach and we look forward to working with APA to restore American to greatness.

The U.S. military is delaying shipment of new F-16 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin to Iraq because of ISIS attacks near an air base north of Baghdad, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The first three fighter planes, which have been sitting at Lockheed's complex in west Fort Worth, will be sent instead to Arizona, where Iraqi pilots are participating in a U.S. training program.

Iraqi defense officials were in Fort Worth in June for a ceremony marking delivery of the first of 36 F-16s being built for the nation by Lockheed Martin.

At the event, Iraq's national security adviser, Falih Al-Fayyadh, said the F-16 would be "a weapon in the hands of all the people" to defend the new republic and its constitution. Four Iraqi air force pilots also attended the event.

The Journal reported that three of the new F-16s would be sent to Tuscon in December, and then one a month from January to May, for a total of eight.

In June, before the Islamic State attacks stepped up, Lockheed officials had said they expected the first two F-16s to be flown to Iraq sometime this year.

November 10, 2014

-Capacity control at airlines may lessen as oil prices continue to drop, this Wall Street Journal article says. High fuel prices "make airlines less certain about future costs, thereby making them more cautious about adding capacity," the article posits.

-Consumer travel advocate Christopher Elliott takes the airlines to task on seat assignments and seat fees in his latest column in USA Today. "Airlines earn big money from seat reservation fees, which used to be included in the price of your ticket, but they also routinely change seat assignments. The most common reason? Switching out one aircraft type for another. Of course, passengers don't have a right to a seat assignment, even when they've paid for it, so they have to accept the new seat," Elliott said.

-The headline on this Washington Post article said it all, "Why everyone still hates the airline industry, in one tweet." It was actually a series of tweets between American Airlines and a passenger who was unhapppy with the lack of seat space on a recent American flight.

Association of Professional Flight Attendants president Laura Glading told flight attendants that she was "devastated" by the no vote on the tentative agreement.

In a message sent to the 24,500 flight attendants at American Airlines and US Airways, she said by going to binding arbitration, the union will meet the pay and benefits of its peers at other legacy airlines although it will not be as valuable as the agreement that was rejected on Sunday.

"It is extremely disappointing to see the improvements our membership was set to receive rejected by such a narrow margin. However, the APFA is above all a democratic organization and the will of the membership is paramount," Glading said.

Binding arbitration meetings are set to begin on Wednesday, December 3.

Like many of you, I was devastated by the results of the T/A balloting today. It is extremely disappointing to see the improvements our membership was set to receive rejected by such a narrow margin. However, the APFA is above all a democratic organization and the will of the membership is paramount.

As has been made clear, the Negotiations Protocol Agreement requires that we submit the outstanding contractual issues to binding arbitration. This week, the Joint Negotiating Committee will begin preparing the case we will present to the arbitration panel. Although the NPA limits the value of the arbitration award to “market-based in the aggregate,” our team is going to do everything possible to protect our work group. The arbitration is set to begin on Wednesday, December 3rd. In the meantime, we are all going to put our heads down and prepare the best possible case.

What is most important to remember as we go forward is that we are one united work group with one united goal: to improve our lives and livelihoods. And improve them we will. The nature of the agreement we reached with management guarantees that we meet the pay and benefits of our peers at United, Continental, and Delta. While we cannot reach the value of the T/A in binding arbitration, no Flight Attendant will be harmed by the arbitrated contract.

As always, stay tuned to the APFA Hotline for important information and developments.

It has always been, and continues to be, an honor to serve the APFA membership.

Flight attendants at American Airlines voted down a five-year contract on Sunday, sending the union to binding arbitration to try to reach a contract with the Fort Worth-based airline.

The tentative agreement which included annual pay raises failed by only 16 votes out of over 16,000 cast, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said in a statement. The first date for arbitration will be Wednesday, December 3, the union said.

About 50.05 percent, or 8196 flight attendants, voted against the contract while 49.95 percent, or 8180 flight attendants, voted for the contract out of the 16,376 ballots cast.

The contract did not include a profit-sharing plan which the union had negotiated in a previous contract. The profit sharing had only paid out once to the legacy American flight attendants but with the company posting record quarterly profits right now, some had wanted to see profit-sharing reinstated.

In an apparent attempt to gain more votes for the contract, the deal was modified during the voting period to change the flying minimum from 40 hours a month to a total of 480 hours for the entire year to give flight attendants more flexibility. That did not appear to mollify flight attendants unhappy with the contract.

American said it was disappointed with the vote results.

“This tentative agreement included industry-leading pay and benefits, and would have provided considerably more economic value and much better work rules than the contract that will be determined by arbitration,” the carrier said in a statement. “And the JCBA determined by arbitration will be imposed without ratification—meaning flight attendants won’t have any say in the process. Next steps are to meet with the APFA to prepare for that arbitration process, which is scheduled to begin next month.”

With 24,500 members, the flight attendants are the largest unionized work group at American and were the first to negotiate a contract that covers both American and US Airways employees.

American is currently in joint contract negotiations with its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association, which federal regulators recognized as the collective bargaining agent for pilots. The company will also initiate talks with passenger service agents, who recently voted to be represented by the Communications Workers of America. The mechanics and ground workers unions are determining which union will represent them.

November 06, 2014

Envoy Air, the regional carrier owned by American Airlines, posted the worst on-time arrival rate of U.S. airlines in September, according to a new report released on Thursday.

Collectively, the industry reported an on-time arrival rate of 81.1 percent in September, down from the 83.3 percent on-time rate in September 2013, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said.

Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time arrival rate with 90.8 percent while Envoy's rate was 73.2 percent. Envoy also had the highest percentage of cancellations, canceling 5.0 percent of its flights in September.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines posted a 82.7 percent rate while Dallas-based Southwest Airlines had an on-time arrival rate of 80.4 percent for the month.

There was only one tarmac delay of more than three hours, an American Airlines flight from Raleigh, N.C. that was supposed to land at Chicago O'Hare on September 5 but was delayed for 189 minutes in Milwaukee due to severe weather.

The airlines mishandled 2.98 bags per 1,000 passengers in September, up from the 2.71 rate in September 2013. The BTS also received 14.2 percent more complaints about U.S. airlines, receiving a total of 1,157 in September.

Daily passenger volumes are expected to range between 1.36 million and 2.61 million passengers. The forecast, however, is six percent lower than the 2006 and 2007 Thanksgiving travel period, the industry group said.

The busiest airports will be Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago O'Hare airports. Dallas/Fort Worth airport will be the fourth busiest airport over the Thanksgiving season.

November 04, 2014

Almost 63 million passengers traveled through Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in the past twelve months, the most in the airport’s 40-year history.

The airport, which concluded its fiscal year on September 30, experienced increases in international passengers as it added several new flights to Doha, Hong Kong and Shanghai in the past year. A total of 62.9 million passengers traveled through the airport, breaking the previous record of 61.1 million in fiscal year 2000.

The airport spent $649.8 million, 1.7 percent less than its fiscal year 2014 budget. It also has returned $28.6 million to its airline tenants through landing fee and terminal rent reductions, 30 percent more than the airport returned to airlines in the previous fiscal year.

And as the airport has gotten busier, it is already preparing for the crowded holiday travel season and any possible winter weather that could cause thousands of passengers to get stranded at DFW.

In a briefing given to the airport board’s operations committee on Tuesday, airport staff said it has spent an additional $7 million on snow and ice removal equipment this year to prepare for the winter. Planning manager Lisa Hughes said the airport’s goal is to improve runway clearing times by 50 percent.

Last year, the airport experienced eight winter weather events with the December ice storm causing ice accumulation of 1.25 inches the airport’s runways and roads. As a result, the airport exceeded its weather budget in 2013/2014 by $2.67 million.

“In the December event, we were seeing 45 minutes to an hour for a single runway just to get the runway passable for aircraft,” Hughes said.

Airport staff said with the new equipment, they plan to pre-treat runways and roadways as much as possible to keep ice and snow from bonding with the pavement and making it easier to clear off the surface.

“The whole concept is don’t let this stuff bond, scrap it off and keep it in a fluid state so when the sun comes out, it can evaporate,” said Jim Crites, executive vice president of operations

DFW has also improved its communications plan with customers about concessions and other amenities that the airport provides for passengers stuck in the terminal during a winter storm.

Separately, the airport finance committee approved a three-year air service incentive program to provide marketing funds and free landing fees to airlines who add new flights to the airport.

The new program, which will last through 2017, will also provide incentive dollars to airlines who change an existing route to a larger aircraft that results in a 30 percent net increase in seats in a market that is at least 5,000 miles from DFW.

November 03, 2014

The U.S. government filed suit against Southwest Airlines on Monday evening after the two parties were unable to reach a settlement on fines stemming from alleged maintenance violations.

In the lawsuit, filed in district court in Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration said starting in 2006, Southwest hired a third-party contractor to fix 44 Boeing 737 aircraft to prevent the aluminum skin from cracking. That third-party firm, Aviation Technical Services in Everett, Wash., did not follow proper procedures in their maintenance repairs, the FAA said.

"Although an air carrier such as Southwest may delegate alterations or maintenance work, such delegation does not relieve the air carrier of the responsibility to ensure that maintenance is performed properly and that the aircraft is airworthy upon return to service," the government says in the lawsuit.

The government asked the court to enforce $12 million in civil penalties that the FAA had announced in July.

"We dispute the FAA's allegations and look forward to the opportunity to vigorously defend Southwest's record in a court of law," Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King told the Associated Press on Monday night.

-The crash of Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two on Friday may have been caused by pilot error, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Using video footage from inside the cockpit as well as telemetry data, investigators found that the copilot unlocked the “feathering” handle nine seconds after the rocket engine ignited. This action occurred prematurely — at speeds of Mach 1 instead of Mach 1.4," the article says.

-Asian airlines continue to struggle in the public markets, once again proving Warren Buffett's belief that one should never invest in airlines. According to this Bloomberg story, six of the ten Asian airlines that had an initial public offering in the past five years are now trading below their original sale price.

-And on a lighter note this Monday, WFAA's Jason Whitely rode on Southwest Airlines' first flight between Nashville and Dallas Love Field on Sunday, and got to witness a wedding midflight. The couple, Dottie Coven and Keith Stewart, don't work for the airline but wanted to do something a little different to tie the knot. Both had racked up enough frequent flier miles from work-related travel that they were able to get 30 tickets for family members to witness the nuptials conducted at 35,000 feet.

Southwest Airlines told customers to bring their Beats headphones as the Dallas-based carrier unveiled a new in-flight music entertainment service.

The airline said passengers can access Beats Music on board flights and includes a library of hundreds of playlists.

"We continue to enhance our onboard offerings to remain current as our Customers' needs evolve, and with the addition of Beats Music on our entertainment portal, we're doing just that," said Southwest chief marketing officer Kevin Krone in a statement.

Southwest launched the new service with a live concert by Cobra Starship on flight 732 from Dallas Love Field to Chicago Midway on Monday and with customers on flight 1527 from Portland to Denver with a concert by Elephant Revival.

For those who have a little bit of Halloween hangover this Monday morning and want to relive the holiday that brings candy to young ones and gives adults the excuse to play dress up, here's a video of American Airlines' executive partying it up at headquarters on Friday.

The video features American president Scott Kirby doing his best Keisha impression with executive vice president Elise Eberwein at his side as Pitbull while chief executive Doug Parker and the rest of the executive team channel British boy band One Direction.